How to get rid of fear: understand its causes, choose a method, act. Is it possible to cope with fears without professionals? How to get rid of fears and breathe freely

Phobia is an unreasonable fear of any phenomenon, process or object. There are a huge number of fears that only a specialist can help a person overcome.

What is a phobia? Causes of fears

A state of fear of something usually defies logical explanation and can turn into a panic attack or neurosis. This greatly complicates a person’s life, causes discomfort, prevents him from looking at things adequately, and, moreover, severe cases– completely changes personality. Anxiety can arise both when confronted with an object of fear, and when thinking about it.

A phobia that interferes with normal life requires professional treatment.

The main sign of fear of something is the desire not to contact the object or not to get into a certain situation.

Physical symptoms:

• the appearance of trembling and cold sweat;
• sensation of a “lump” in the throat, choking;
• abdominal discomfort, intestinal upset;
• weakness, feeling of numbness;
• rapid heartbeat.

Exactly established cause the disease does not exist. Most experts say that fear of something arises in early age. As they grow older, some people's fears go away, while others, on the contrary, get worse.

Development factors are:

• a stressful situation experienced in the past;
• heredity;
• overdeveloped instinct of self-preservation.

In most cases, obsessive-compulsive disorder occurs in emotional and sensitive people. Anxiety is often diagnosed in a person with a rich imagination, since it is difficult for him to distinguish real danger from imaginary.

What are phobias: a list of the most famous types

In total, there are about 300 different types, which differ in the nature of the object of fear, severity, symptoms, etc. Basic: zoophobia, agoraphobia, social and other fears.

1. Arachnophobia

Fear of any type and size of spiders. One of the most common fears that provokes panic attacks at the sight of representatives of the order of arthropods.

Represents an alarm for the class of insects. There are variations in this category: panic in front of bees (apiphobia), as well as worms, caterpillars, slugs and other creatures that resemble worms (scoleciphobia).

A general name that describes the fear of people and any social phenomena. Most often, a person suffering from this disease tries to live alone. There is another direction - demophobia, when it is scary to be in a crowd.

This is a fear that affects people at any age. Expressed in a panic or anxiety state from the dark. One of the varieties is nyctophobia, when a person fears the night will fall.

Expressed in fear of heights or depths. A person can be frightened not only when he is at a great distance from the ground, but also in the process of moving away from it (going up the elevator or stairs). A common type is anxiety from traveling on an airplane, which is called aerophobia.

Unusual fear, manifested by panic at the sight of repeated holes and openings. People with this phobia cannot calmly look at corals, small insect holes, or serious skin pathologies.

The category of fear of contracting diseases is presented different types. A person may be afraid of diseases of an oncological nature (cancerophobia), sexually transmitted diseases (venerophobia), infectious diseases (bacillophobia) or heart pathologies (cardiophobia).

The emergence of anxiety states from performing physical or intellectual labor, as well as actions that require the manifestation of any skills. In other words, a person experiences anxiety about work and everything connected with it.

Manifests itself in anxiety and panic attacks at the thought of death. Scientists associate this condition with fear of the unknown. In severe form, thoughts about fatal outcome turn into obsession, delirium and cause severe nervous disorders.

10. Claustrophobia and agoraphobia

They are considered the most common fears. The first involves panic in a closed space (people become afraid to ride even in an elevator), the second - in an empty or open space. In this case, the person begins to panic when he realizes that he has nowhere to hide.

Nervous state at the sight of any snakes. Herpetophobia also occurs, when a person is afraid not only of snakes, but also of any representatives of reptiles and reptiles.

A common fear among people (especially residents Western countries) when seeing or thinking about clowns.

Implies the occurrence of panic at the sight of dogs. It is divided into several types: fear of contracting rabies or fear of bites.

A condition in which a person subconsciously or consciously fears establishing a trusting relationship with the opposite sex, that is, falling in love. Often this obsessive-compulsive disorder caused by a reluctance to care for anyone, lose freedom, or take responsibility for one's actions.

Expressed in fear of being alone. According to statistics, it is this phobia that often leads to suicide.

Identified in fear of infection by microbes. A person may also begin to panic when dirt (automisophobia) or dust (amatophobia) comes into contact with him.

Typical for people who cannot tolerate injections. A person may faint at the sight of a needle. Intolerance to the sight of blood (hemophobia) is also common. This category includes yatrophobia - panic in front of medical staff, as well as nosocomephobia, when a person is afraid to visit medical institutions.

Represents the occurrence of anxiety states at the thought of traveling by sea or during it. Fear of fresh water bodies with currents is not so common. A more common problem is swimming in water (aquaphobia).

Avoiding contact with men. Sometimes accompanied by a hateful attitude, disgust, inappropriate behavior. Similarly, there is a fear of women with the same symptoms (gynecophobia).

Expressed in aversion to touch. The person avoids tactile contact with others. In some cases this is accompanied by disgust.

Treatment of phobias: how to overcome fears

Quite often a person lives with his fears, but they do not bother him. Another question is when he himself tries to avoid unpleasant situations. However, there are cases when it is difficult for a person to cope with a problem on his own, and only a specialist can help him with this.

Complex treatment is carried out by a psychotherapist: physiotherapy, tranquilizers or antidepressants, psychotherapy, a special diet.

In severe cases, doctors practice hypnosis. Getting rid of a phobia on your own is quite difficult. You can try relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, ignoring bad thoughts. It is necessary to consult a psychotherapist if unreasonable fear causes panic and severe anxiety, or anxiety does not pass more than six months.

Phobias of famous people

Many singers, composers, actors and writers have their own fears that they have to live and work with. An increased emotional level, due to the nature of their activity, involuntarily provokes anxiety.

Celebrity phobias:

• Scarlett Johansson suffers from blattophobia. The girl is terribly afraid of cockroaches. She explains this by saying that one day she woke up and discovered that a huge insect was crawling across her face.
• Johnny Depp I discovered that I have coulphobia. Fear appeared in childhood. The actor still struggles with panic at the sight of clowns.
• Singer Rihanna looks at all the fish with horror. Her condition is called ichthyophobia. From a young age, the girl does not swim in the sea, preferring swimming pools.
• Stephen Keen d is afraid of the number “13”, tries not to fly on an airplane and avoids the company of cats. The last phobia (ailurophobia) suffered from: famous personalities, like Alexander the Great, Hitler, Napoleon, and also Caesar.
• David Beckham suffers from ataxophobia. The man admits that sometimes his behavior is like an obsession. He gets angry if things are out of place or unorganized.
• Orlando Bloom is horrified by the sight of pigs. His condition is called porcuphobia. One day, a panic attack prevented him from filming a film.
• Several people suffered from taphophobia outstanding personalities. The storyteller was terrified of being buried alive Andersen, composer Chopin and writer Gogol. The condition was so severe that all these people often left notes that they were fast asleep and not dead.

According to statistics, about 6% of people are susceptible to panic attacks. In America, almost 7% of the population suffers from phobias, and in the UK the figure is closer to 9%. Drug therapy, consultations with a psychotherapist, relaxing procedures - all this will help get rid of the phobia that interferes with normal image life.

People have a variety of anxieties and fears. The reasons are most often individual and, as a rule, these fears tend to pass over time or change. But there are times when anxiety turns into panic and the usual human feeling of fear is transformed into a phobia. In this article we will look at what phobias are and how to deal with them.

Phobia is a stable, irrational fear in front of any situations, objects or creatures.

As a rule, a phobia is accompanied by certain symptoms. They can occur together or separately.

• A person is cold, but at the same time he breaks into a sweat, defined as “cold sweat”;
• Difficulty breathing;
• The body becomes “disobedient”, legs and arms tremble;
• A person is immersed in a feeling of unreality of what is happening, it is difficult for him to navigate in space;
• The heartbeat increases, the blood pressure increases or decreases;
• Panic horror arises, a desire to run away, to get out of an alarming situation.

If you have been diagnosing yourself with some of these symptoms for a long time, when faced with a certain situation, object or creature, and regularly think about how to deal with fears, you most likely have a phobia.

Any phobia is a disease that requires treatment.

But before moving on to the question of how to get rid of phobias yourself, it is necessary to analyze the main reasons for their occurrence.

Causes

According to statistics, pathological fear occurs due to two most common reasons:

1. Stressful or traumatic situation. This reason is the most common, although people do not always remember what exactly happened that caused the appearance constant fear. However, fear can be caused by an associative series associated with past situation. For example, the fear of driving is based on a previously experienced accident, and the fear of choking is based on food getting stuck, which caused a panic experience. People with a developed imagination can acquire a phobia after a terrible incident with friends, or simply after seeing something frightening on TV.
2. Hereditary factor. Many fears, for example, fear of heights, snakes, spiders, etc. are based on the instinct of self-preservation and are inherent in all humanity. However, in people with weak nervous system or a hereditary predisposition, the instinct of self-preservation can be transformed into obsessive fear.

Understanding and establishing true reasons the emergence of fears is already half the success towards answering the question of how to cope with phobias.

How to cure

Experts say that there are different methods treatment of phobias, differing in the type of impact on a person. It is possible to treat ingrained fears in the following ways:

1. Hypnotherapy. Treatment of any phobias and fears has become possible on an unconscious level since the second half of the 20th century thanks to the discovery of the method of hypnotherapy. The essence of the method is that the doctor instills in our subconscious a positive perception of our fears. The method is very complex and has many nuances, because its success solely depends on the professionalism of the hypnotherapist. However, treating phobias with hypnosis is not the most rare way fighting fears.
2. Treatment of phobias with medication. It is used in cases where other methods are not effective, and the patient is in a constant state of depression, panic and anxiety. Drug treatment Only the attending physician has the right to prescribe fear. For achievement best effect drugs from the benzodiazepine group are used. They can help overcome phobias in short time, however, may have the side effect of addiction. Therefore, the use of these medications is strictly regulated in dosage and timing. The mechanism of action of benzodiazepines is to inhibit the process nervous excitement. Another group of drugs is more common in the treatment of fears and phobias - antidepressants. They begin their effect on the patient’s body only after 5-10 days of administration and can provoke side effects in the form of constipation, dry mouth, trembling in the limbs. However, this medicine has a significant advantage - it is not addictive. The mechanism of action of antidepressants in the treatment of phobias is to block the breakdown of those substances in the body that are responsible for a positive outlook on the world and good mood: serotonin and dopamine.

Remember that any medicine can only be taken as prescribed by a doctor and only in recommended doses! Any sloppy technique medicines may have a negative impact on the patient's health, and extreme cases cost your life!

1. Phytotherapy. The so-called “home” method of treatment. Any herbal medicine has, first of all, a calming effect, which is so necessary for a person in the treatment of phobias and fears. Used in treatment essential oils mint based; alcohol tinctures from valerian, hawthorn, peony; teas brewed from oregano, lemon balm, dill. Based medicinal herbs also sufficiently developed effective drugs, which do not cure, but promote relaxation and reduce anxiety. These include: afobazole, novopassit, persen, tenoten. The main condition for the effectiveness of this type of treatment is the mild severity of the disease.

1. Self-medication. Statistics show that it is possible to get rid of a phobia on your own. There are recommended tips from a psychologist, following which the dream of getting rid of fears can become a reality.

• Face your fears, look them in the eye. In practice, this often means stopping the use of medications, especially preventive medications.

However, remember that stopping medications on your own is not acceptable - you must notify your doctor about this!

• Strive to face your fears more often. Often, the effect of “reaction burnout” helps to cure a phobia, the essence of which is to increase the number of experienced situations in which a person experiences panic, until he gains experience characterized by defensive reactions of the body and psyche. The subconscious remembers that he managed to overcome his fear.
• Make a list of what your fear consists of. For example, if you are afraid of flying, describe what exactly causes panic. This could be landing or takeoff, confined space or turbulence, etc. In order for the fight against fear to be effective, it is important to pay attention to the smallest details of the disease.
• Learn to release tension. Fear is always accompanied by physical manifestations: it can be sweat, fever, trembling, palpitations, headache and so on. In most cases, the answer to the question of how to overcome this state of the body is relaxation techniques. This could be meditation, muscle relaxation, deep breathing techniques. Yoga helps overcome obsessive states.
• Learn to manage negative thoughts . Controlling your own thought process helps you control yourself and cope with your phobia. Negative thoughts become a habit throughout an illness, and sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish and replace them. Therefore, take time, analyze the most common negative thoughts, note them down, think about how to get rid of them and keep them under control. The most common examples of such thoughts are: “this plane (elevator, bridge, etc.) will fall,” “I can’t handle it,” etc.

Most The best way fighting phobias and negative thoughts is logical.

Explain to yourself why a terrible incident is unlikely, look for more information about your fear.

Here are the most common, but not all, ways to deal with phobias. The treatment method is prescribed by the doctor, depending on the degree of development of the phobia and its effect on the patient.

Phobia is not a death sentence!

In most cases, fears and phobias have their roots in childhood; the easiest way to get rid of fears and phobias is to analyze the past.

Therefore, parents need to be very attentive to the experiences and fears of their children, monitor their reactions to unusual situations, show respect for their feelings and prevent their own panic states in the presence of children.

If a child sees confirmation of his fears also from significant adults, it will be extremely difficult for him to overcome the phobia.

It is also extremely important to learn to monitor your fears and experiences and be able to convey them to others. You need to eat right and take regular rest. Try to protect yourself from negative experiences, communicate less with those who bring negativity into your life.

At the current time, phobias and methods of treating them have been sufficiently researched and do not cause many problems for treating doctors. However, any phobia originates in our head, which means that there may be nuances that are not taken into account. Psychotherapy continues to work to expand the options for answering the question of how to treat phobias, and perhaps new methods will become faster and more effective.

How to get rid of fear is a question that worries every person from time to time.

After all, it’s no secret that everyone has their own phobias, and this is quite natural.

But what to do if fear turns into an obsession and prevents you from leading a normal existence?

Before finding an answer to a tormenting problem, it is worth understanding the reasons for the appearance of an overwhelming feeling of panic.

Fears: reasons

Among the many causes of panic attacks, there are four main ones:

Attachment to things and people;

Diffidence;

Mental trauma of childhood;

Diseases.

A person who is deeply attached to a loved one may be susceptible to fears about the loss of a loved one. Therefore, jealousy is nothing more than fear of loss. In this case, the person is not able to identify himself with the individual, since he is completely in psychological dependence from another person.

Often an individual falls under the “power” of material things: money, expensive car, property. The person begins to be pursued obsessive phobias that he could lose all this at any moment. It is common for all people to sometimes experience fear about loss. loved one or very expensive things. Sometimes it is very difficult to determine when the line of reasonable fear ends and the disease begins. If an individual is constantly haunted by obsessive, panicky thoughts, then the help of a psychologist may be needed. A specialist will help you understand yourself, identify the main source of the phobia and select individual methods that will help you get rid of fear.

Uncertainty, like dependence on people and circumstances, is a person’s worst enemy. Lack of self-confidence, a feeling of internal failure, inability to change anything in your life for the better gives rise to the most destructive phobia.

Fear paralyzes, slows down, destroys from the inside. The individual finds himself in vicious circle from which, as it seems to him, it is impossible to escape. This reason must and can be fought, but only if there is a passionate desire to get rid of fears.

Self-doubt has its roots in childhood. A child deprived of the attention of loved ones and love most often grows up timid, downtrodden and unsure of his own abilities. In adult life such an individual is regularly plagued by panic attacks. He is deprived of the inner energy that his peers, surrounded by care and warmth, subscribed to.

Mental traumas of childhood have the same etiology as uncertainty, and therefore are closely related to it. A child who was regularly shouted at and physically punished as a child grows up to be an incorrectly formed personality with many complexes.

Another reason that creates fear in a person and is not related to childhood experiences is illness. Often people suffering chronic diseases, are worried about their lives. They begin to suffer from panic attacks over the fact that they could lose their life at any moment. Such fear can and should be treated, since in most cases it is unfounded.

How to get rid of fear: what types of fear can you overcome on your own?

There isn't one universal remedy or a specific answer to the question of how to get rid of fear. Everything is purely individual and depends largely on the person himself: whether he is ready to face his phobias and begin to fight them.

Overcoming anxiety is a large-scale, hard work on yourself. If an individual does not find the strength to cope with his own fears on his own, no specialist will help him. Success depends 99% on your own efforts and only 1% on the treating psychologist who will help you understand and direct your thoughts in the right direction.

Therefore, you can cope with many types of fear on your own. It happens that a person does not want to apply for medical care, but is determined to get rid of his own phobias. Our mini-guide and many videos on this topic, which abound on the Internet, can help him with this.

How to get rid of fear: what types of fear can only be treated by specialists

Unfortunately, a person is not always able to cope with panic attacks on one's own. First of all, this applies to those phobias that are associated with deep psychological trauma from childhood.

In this case, it may be necessary not only psychological help, but also hypnotherapy. The result will largely depend on the qualifications of the specialist and his total experience in this area. Only an experienced psychologist is able to “reach out” to the patient and give multifaceted answers to the question of how to get rid of fear.

Another one of the most serious types fear is social phobia, which can often only be dealt with with the help of a psychologist. Social phobes are not difficult to spot in a crowd. Since childhood, they prefer to keep to themselves. You won't find them in yard sandboxes, playing with other children. As adults, such people prefer to avoid public places and choose to work from home.

Having noticed the first symptoms of social phobia in yourself or your child, you should immediately solve the problem, as in the future this will lead to serious consequences: inability to communicate normally with people and fully coexist in society.

How to get rid of fear: step-by-step instructions

1. Visualization. Before you start fighting invisible enemy, you need to recognize him by sight. Answer your questions honestly: what are you most afraid of? “Knowledge is power” is an undeniable paradigm. Once you've identified your core phobias, sit with them alone and imagine the worst that could happen.

Keep imagining until you begin to feel numb to your own imagined phobias. Often visualization is the best way to get rid of fear.

2. Arithmations. Good method mental attitudes can become a way to get rid of fear. Over the course of a day, a week, or months, a person repeats to himself arithmations aimed at cleansing internal alarms. A simple example internal attitudes may include the following phrases: “I accept my fears and learn to manage them”; “I let go of my fear,” etc. Our subconscious is capable of working miracles. Even if the conscious mind initially resists believing your words, over time the subconscious mind takes your statements for granted and starts the process of “recovery.” It is very important to take this seriously, since arithmations are endowed with enormous power. It is also important to compose them correctly. Your settings should not contain phrases with the particle “NOT”. For example, by regularly repeating to yourself a combination such as “I am NOT afraid,” you thereby attract even greater panic and anxiety to yourself. The fact is that our subconscious is not able to recognize this particle. Thus, your inner voice hears the opposite: “I am afraid!” Therefore, incorrectly composed arithms, instead of positive results, can cause harm.

3. Action. You can talk for a long time about how to get rid of fear, and not move a single step towards overcoming it. Brave people are not those who are not afraid of anything. These are individuals who were able to face their fear and were able to overcome it. Remember, only action conquers fear. Do what you fear most. People who adequately perceive their fear and manage to rationally coexist with it become the most successful.

How to get rid of fear in a child

Sometimes parents do not want to admit to themselves that they are the main reason for the development of phobias in their child.

Children who have not received enough parental warmth, who hear eternal reproaches about wrong behavior, acquire a bunch of complexes that degenerate into fears.

But often the cause of fear in a child can be excessive guardianship on the part of loved ones. Babies are born devoid of any types of phobias. And only over time do adults “impose” their fears on the child. Instead of allowing your child to explore the world, his parents warn him at every step.

The child grows up, and the deeply ingrained words: “don’t go there,” “don’t touch that,” “you can’t” take root in the individual’s subconscious. A person becomes indecisive and incapable of great achievements. It is difficult for him to understand how to get rid of his own fears.

To prevent this, there must be a golden mean in raising a child.

Hug your baby often and tell him you love him. It will not be superfluous to adolescence. The love and care of others helps children cope with internal fears better than any words.

Parents who do not want their child to grow up with deep complexes should not set many restrictions and harshly punish for misconduct.

Effective way In getting rid of fears in children, experts call the method of play. With the help of games, the child is given the opportunity to experience a frightening situation in a fictional reality. This approach helps the child emotionally clear himself of his phobias.

It is very important that games aimed at overcoming fears contain both real and fictional models with an emphasis on positive side.

Such games should inspire and motivate action. Spending time together with your child in a playful and exciting, relaxed form of communication will definitely give you positive results.

In addition to love, care and spending time together, a child is in dire need of approval from adults. That is why you should not forget to praise your child as often as possible. This will help him grow into a full-fledged person.

Phobias– a fairly common phenomenon, this is a strong fear of something that, in fact, in reality cannot pose a danger. They can occur in each of us in childhood and sometimes go away on their own. But phobias often develop in adulthood. In this case, most likely, they will persist throughout life and can be reduced with the help of psychotherapeutic influence.

A phobia differs from ordinary fear in that a person most often understands that his fear of the dark, heights, spiders, closed spaces, and other things is senseless and unfounded. But understanding this does not help you control your feelings and experiences. Phobias can be quite strong, painful and persistent. They cause such tension that can change the quality of life for the worse. Personal, social, and professional life may suffer. Phobias force a person to avoid situations in which they may encounter the object that causes fear. For example, if you have aerophobia (fear of flying), then you most likely will not get a job that involves frequent flights.

Signs and symptoms of a phobia

People with phobias may experience various symptoms when exposed to an object or situation that they fear. This may include choking, increased heart rate, throat spasms, increased sweating, dizziness, weakness, numbness, fainting, nausea, a feeling of unreality, a feeling of fear or cold. Such symptoms appear suddenly and can provoke a person to take inappropriate actions.

When is it time to see a doctor?

If you have had a phobia for more than 6 months, it causes you significant discomfort and greatly affects various areas of your life, then it makes sense to seek help from a psychologist or psychotherapist. Psychoanalysis has traditionally been effective in treating phobias. However, this is the most expensive, lengthy and intensive treatment method. Other methods of psychotherapy, for example, cognitive behavioral, are no less effective in helping to get rid of phobias. In cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, the exposure method is successfully used to treat phobias. Its essence is that the client, under the professional supervision of a specialist, is exposed to the object that inspires fear in him. At the same time, everything that happens to him is constantly discussed with the patient. The strength of the object's impact is gradually increased until the level of fear becomes maximum, then levels off and immediately decreases. You need to be exposed to this effect several times with the help of a psychotherapist, after which in 95% of cases there is significant relief from the symptoms of the phobia.

How to get rid of a phobia yourself

You can try to help yourself at home. Some phobias become irrelevant if a person adjusts his lifestyle in such a way as to reduce the possibility of encountering a frightening object to zero or to avoid a repetition of an undesirable situation. Let’s say that if a person is afraid of snakes, then it is enough for him simply not to visit places where he can meet them. If you have a fear of heights, you can choose housing on the ground floor. It is clear that this will not get rid of the phobia itself, however, it will make life more comfortable.

We must understand that if a phobia appears, it means that it has some causes. Although the cause of a phobia can be difficult to determine, even without knowing it, you can fight attacks of fear. Notice your negative ones anxious thoughts, they are most often unrealistic, however, they are what feed your phobia. When you notice such a thought, immediately question it. For example, you noticed a negative thought: “you can suffocate in the subway.” Start asking yourself questions: how many people do you know who died from suffocation in the subway? What allows millions of people to use the subway every day and stay alive? Consider what you would say to a friend who has this fear. Read about the ventilation system in the subway. Take a trip with a friend on the subway, try riding at opposite ends of the car, then in different cars, and stay connected. This must be done regularly.

You can write down your fears on paper. When anxiety arises, write down everything that comes to your mind until there is no trace of fear left. The point is that fears set out on paper seem to materialize, acquire clear contours and look completely meaningless.

Actively use relaxation techniques, deep breathing, meditation. It is a powerful weapon in the fight against fear, anxiety and worry. By regularly practicing these techniques, you will develop the ability to quickly calm down and maintain peace of mind. In addition to this, you can use massage and self-massage.

The main thing is to understand that it is quite possible to get rid of phobias; you just need to choose a method and persistently pursue your goal.

Every person strives to achieve their goals, improve the quality own life. On the path to success there are always many different obstacles, sometimes the most unexpected. Fear of possible failure, as well as lack of self-confidence, sometimes stop the implementation of the most successful ideas and do not provide the opportunity for the most self-expression. active people. In this case, fear is harmful, but it also happens useful to a person. For example, when he stops you from jumping from the roof of a house. Fear - defensive reaction to save life. This fear does not affect later life, since it does not return again and again and does not interfere with life.

But fear may not be short-lived. In this case, it has a name in medical terminology, which will allow you to understand why overcoming such fears is quite difficult, as well as the degree of its influence on all areas of a person’s life. Experts call this fear a phobia. Next, our conversation is about human phobias and fears. Our topic on the www.site is Phobias and human fears, how to get rid of them yourself.

So, what is a phobia and what are its main types?

Phobia - concept and types

Phobia is from the Greek word meaning “fear”. But this is not momentary fear, but stable, persistent fear, leading to the experience of anxiety in a certain place or situation, anticipation of something.

In psychiatry it is believed that such fear cannot be fully explained logically. But this is probably not entirely true, since there are treatments for phobias that are based on the patient understanding the cause of the phobia. Which in fact is an obvious inconsistency. Therefore, persistent fear is completely understandable; you just need to observe the subject subject to it.

For example, with a phobia such as Aichmophobia a person with it avoids sharp objects. At aquaphobia he can't learn to swim claustrophobia he is scared in the elevator, because the doors are closed and may not open...

A strong fear of something is accompanied by manifestations of strong, sometimes panic fear. Currently, a huge amount has been studied various types phobias. Among them are a few more common ones:

Social phobia– fear of performing certain public actions. About 13% of the total population of the planet suffers from social phobia.
Acrophobia- Fear of heights. Many people experience fear when they are at heights. But with acrophobia, real panic arises, the inability to think sensibly.
Zoophobia– fear certain type animal. Often such fear is transmitted from another person, and sometimes arises as a result of negative experiences with such an animal.
Claustrophobia– fear of closed spaces. In this case, there may be observed palpitations, dizziness, chest pain.
Ethnophobia- a type of rejection of a certain race. Racism, like antiseism, are examples of ethnophobia.

Why are they dangerous? obsessive fears, and also what is their impact on our lives?

The impact of panic conditions on quality of life

Of course, any fear does not bring positive emotions and cannot become a source of joy for a person. Therefore, the impact of this kind of panic fears on life can only be assessed negatively.

Therefore, to prevent deepening obsessive fears Measures should be taken to allow a constructive approach to the treatment of phobias. Currently, there are many methods to combat this condition.

Cure from phobias – how realistic is it?

To get your life back on track, you need to get rid of your phobias. This is quite possible, and you can either seek the help of a professional on these issues or try to help yourself on your own.

The effectiveness of treatment is quite high in both the first and second cases; the main condition for success will be a burning desire to get rid of your fears, a willingness to analyze underlying reasons phobias.

General treatment regimen for panic conditions

Curing a phobia always begins with determining what exactly frightens a person, causing panic and even worsening physical condition. You should know that a person can suffer from both unreasonable fear, which is a phobia, and justified from the point of view of one’s safety. Treatment for reasonable fear is not mandatory action, and sometimes it may even be inappropriate.

So, the first and main stage of treatment panic state- this is the definition of its cause.

After this, you should begin to work directly with the very cause of the phobia. A professional approach to treating phobias is based on hypnosis and psychotherapy. Such psychotherapy sessions can teach you to perceive your fear more constructively, as they say, to look it in the eye.

We conclude: the second stage is awareness of one’s own fear, its acceptance and the ability to think constructively when it arises.

Now, having accepted your condition and understanding its nature, you can learn to control fear in practice. This means that when situations arise related to a phobia, do not try to “run away” from it, but make the right decision.

There are also a number of drugs that help relieve nervous tension and reduce the symptoms of panic attacks. It is not recommended to get involved in them, as they are harmful to health and can cause pharmacological dependence.

How to get rid of phobias and fears on your own?

There is a common belief that to treat obsessive fears, only the help of a professional psychologist is necessary. However, this is not true. If you are determined to succeed and believe in own strength, You can not only reduce the manifestations of the phobia, but also completely recover from it. What is the system self-treatment panic attacks?

Here you should also first of all honestly answer the question, what exactly causes panic attacks in you? Not justified, but uncontrollable, because fear in a broader sense is a natural instinct for preserving the life of any living creature.

So, you have answered your question, what exactly is the reason for especially strong fear. This is the main question, since the answer to it largely depends on the method of treatment.

The main method of self-treatment is desensitization - the ability to relax at a particularly sensitive moment. acute manifestation phobias. It is difficult, but with a firm intention to get rid of this condition and a constant willingness to implement the next step to get rid of it, it is quite possible.

So, at the first signs of the manifestation of your phobia, you should relax as much as possible. Awareness of fear is an important component of success in treatment. Now try to answer your questions: is everything really as scary as it seems? Maybe I'm exaggerating?

Relaxation also involves the opportunity to accept horizontal position and conduct a self-auto-training session. You can turn on a recording with text for relaxation, you can speak the appropriate text in advance onto the tape and turn it on as needed.

Such sessions should also be carried out in moments of calm, when there is no reason for panic sensations to arise. Correct breathing will help a lot with this - one more effective method restoring psychological balance, reducing pulse rate and heartbeat. Listening to your breathing, completely surrender to the physical sensations - this will allow you to relax more.

So, the main points in self-deliverance from panic fears will become:

Analysis of the causes of fear;
awareness and acceptance of fear;
a gradual decrease in the intensity of the fear experienced;
the ability to relax in moments of panic;
restoration of breathing;
conducting auto-training to restore psychological balance.

These include the constant expansion of the field of positive emotions in your life, because the more pleasant emotions we experience, the less space and opportunity for manifestation negative emotions remains. Here we can recommend engaging in activities that bring you pleasure more often.

Also a great assistant can become a sport. Physical effort will distract you from negative associations and thoughts and reduce the intensity of the manifestations of the phobia, and this is precisely what should be achieved when panic fear occurs.

Pleasant communication is an important component on the path to success. Exchange positive emotions and friendly support can be a real salvation in such situations.

And also, of course, the help of a specialist - an experienced psychotherapist will help you understand the cause of the phobia, indicate the path of treatment and record the new condition.